Hurricane Matthew alters stretch run for volleyball, cross country in Manatee County
Football wasn’t the only sport to have games with postseason implications thrown into flux by the threat of Hurricane Matthew. Most of the final district volleyball matches of the season were scheduled for Thursday and Friday and are now pushed into next week.
The most important of the four matches scheduled for the end of the week was a Class 6A-District 11 rivalry match originally slated for Thursday. Bayshore, which currently sits second in the district, will go on the road to face Southeast on Saturday at 10 a.m. A Bruins win would clinch the No. 2 seed in the 6A-11 tournament, while a Seminoles victory would cause a three-way tie among Bayshore, Dunedin and Southeast behind district-champion Tarpon Springs.
Class 3A-District 5’s playoff positioning has already been determined, but Bradenton Christian will still finish its regular-season schedule despite Thursday’s match against Sarasota Christian being postponed. The Panthers are locked into the No. 4 seed and will now host the district champion Monday in Bradenton. Out-of-Door Academy clinched the No. 2 seed with a win against Imagine School of North Port and Saint Stephen’s clinched the No. 3 seed by beating Imagine School the next day.
Cardinal Mooney will also have to wait to find out its position in the Class 5A-District 9 tournament. The Cougars game against Tampa Catholic, originally scheduled for Friday, has been moved to Wednesday. No games featuring Class 8A-District 11 teams — Manatee, Lakewood Ranch, Braden River and Palmetto — were washed out by the hurricane.
One cross country meet featuring area teams was also canceled because of Matthew. The Disney Cross Country Classic in Kissimmee, where the Canes and Tigers were supposed to spend Saturday, was wiped out. The Florida State Pre-State Invitational in Tallahassee, where the Mustangs and Cougars will compete, will go on as scheduled at 8 a.m.
David Wilson: 941-745-7057, @DBWilson2
Stretch run
The volleyball regular season concludes Oct. 15 as district tournaments begin Oct. 17. Here’s how the schedule will unfold during the final week of the season:
Saturday, Oct. 8
Fort Myers Evangelical Christian at Manatee, 8 a.m.**
Bayshore at Southeast, 10 a.m.*
Monday, Oct. 10
Sarasota Christian at Bradenton Christian, 6 p.m.*
Braden River at Bayshore, 7 p.m.
Gulf Coast HEAT at Southeast, 7 p.m.
North Port at Cardinal Mooney, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 11
Sarasota Military Academy at Out-of-Door Academy, 4 p.m.
St. Petersburg Northside Christian at Bradenton Christian, 6:30 p.m.
Saint Stephen’s at Palmetto, 7 p.m.
Manatee at Sarasota Riverview 7 p.m.
Southeast at Sarasota Booker, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 12
Cardinal Mooney at Tampa Catholic, 6:30 p.m.*
Lakewood Ranch at Braden River, 7 p.m.*
Thursday, Oct. 13
Bradenton Christian at Bayshore, 6 p.m.
Sarasota Military Academy at Southeast, 7 p.m.
Out-of-Door Academy at Punta Gorda Charlotte, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 14
Cardinal Mooney at Miami Ransom Everglades, 7 p.m.***
*—denotes district match
**—part of Battle at the Beach in Venice
***—part of Smoothie King Tournament in Miami
This story was originally published October 7, 2016 at 6:07 PM with the headline "Hurricane Matthew alters stretch run for volleyball, cross country in Manatee County."